Remembering the true meaning of Christmas

Thursday

Dec 19, 2013 at 2:00 AM

Almost 2,000 years ago, in a small village named Bethlehem in the land of Judea, a baby boy named Jesus was born to Jewish parents. This little boy grew up and became an itinerate preacher and worker of miracles. Opposition grew, and this man Jesus was arrested by the authorities and handed over to the Romans to be executed by crucifixion as an enemy of the state.

Dec. 15 — To the Editor:

Almost 2,000 years ago, in a small village named Bethlehem in the land of Judea, a baby boy named Jesus was born to Jewish parents. This little boy grew up and became an itinerate preacher and worker of miracles. Opposition grew, and this man Jesus was arrested by the authorities and handed over to the Romans to be executed by crucifixion as an enemy of the state.

Why is it that Jesus' birth is now celebrated all over the world? Of course, to many people it has become merely a festive occasion for anticipating the arrival of Santa Claus, giving gifts to each other, and decorating trees and houses with lights. These things are good and are well worth doing. But what about the true meaning of Christmas? For many, the birth of Jesus is like a pleasant legend, a nice story but of little if any relevance to "ordinary life." Why does it matter?

It matters because, as the message given to Jesus's father, Joseph, stated, "you shall call his name Jesus for it is he who will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Many wonder if that's really necessary in their case. After all, God knows we're pretty good people, right? We compare well (so we think) to others around us. Surely we'll be OK when "that time" comes. What is generally not understood is that other people are not the standard of behavior, Jesus is, and Jesus is perfect, sinless. As the Bible states it, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). If you doubt that, consider what you would think of a judge who based his verdicts on how a criminal compared to other criminals around him. He would be impeached; but that's how we think that God, the Judge of the world, should judge us. No, in God's holy sight, we are all guilty as charged, and therefore liable for exclusion from his gracious presence forever.

However, as the Son of God, Jesus' death was not a tragic end to a promising life, but rather, he was "delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23) to take the penalty of sin for every person who trusts in him as Savior and Lord. How do we know that to be true? We know because Jesus was raised from death to eternal life. That's an even more extravagant claim. Yes, but we know that happened because of the consistent testimony of many people who saw him risen, and from the dramatic change in those witnesses from frightened, discouraged followers to fearless proclaimers of a message of eternal hope which was at the same time very threatening to the authorities and very unbelievable to both Jews and Greeks.

That message is the good news that crucified and risen Jesus, who died for the sins of his people, has ascended to heaven and given his Spirit to his church on earth, which is now taking that message to the whole world. That baby born in a stable is now exalted as Lord over all, and will return to judge the living and the dead and transform all things into a heaven on earth for those who believe in him and follow him. Another extravagant claim? He who made that claim also said he would be crucified and rise from the dead, and so it happened. "Joy to the world, the Lord has come! Let earth receive her king!"

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